Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans
2017 Memorial Championship Off to an Exciting Start
Photo Credit: Disc Golf Pro Tour, Rebecca Heiam
The start of the 2017 Memorial Championship presented by Discraft began in beautiful weather on the scenic Fountain Hills course. The featured card voted on by the fans included, Ricky Wysocki, Paul McBeth, Eagle McMahon, and Simon Lizotte. From the very first moment Ricky Wysocki, fresh off his Gentlemen’s Club victory, faced down the always intimidating hole #1 and parked his drive next to Eagle McMahon to make an immediate statement to his worthy competitor. Ricky continued his onslaught the very next hole draining a water-view death putt that found its way into the center of the basket. His courage to run putts soon gave way to better judgment as he began to take what was given to him by the course and laid up multiple times intelligently at the end of his front nine saving himself costly strokes.
Another standout player early in the day was Will Schusterick with a -9 garnering that score with and astounding 100% scramble rate along with 100% from circle 1 but unfortunately joining a crowd of five other players supplying the same score. A notable highlight during round one was a heavy hitter from years past, Dave Feldberg showing us why he has the reputation as one of the smartest disc golfers to play the game. Known for seeing all the angles, Feldberg battled through a rough front nine carding two bogeys before righting the ship and stringing together a spectacular run of birdies late in the round to leave the grizzled pro with a respectable -7 to put himself in a great position for day two.
Poised to repeat his winning streak from the year before, Paul McBeth seemed tentative during his start, not really pushing his putt aggressively as he can confidently do when his “beast mode” is engaged. McBeth took back to back bogeys on holes 8 and 9, not showing the shot selection and commitment to his throws that he has during other rounds on this course. Paul found his stride as his round continued but came up a little short on the leaderboard. Then again, it’s still only day one and he his Paul McBeth after all.
The fountain at Fountain Hills was once the tallest water fountain in the world. Photo by Jeremy Koling.
The second round of the Memorial Championship, presented by Discraft looks to be a fierce battle between Nate Sexton, Eagle McMahon, and Simon Lizotte all carding a -11. Taking nothing away from Eagle, he seems to be growing wise beyond his age matching Ricky Wysocki shot for shot on a great many of the holes this day.
Simon Lizotte began this tournament round with the dreaded bogey. Although he didn’t start on the right foot, he played inspired disc golf going on to shoot 7 birdies on the front 9 and 6 on the back nine. There were some moments when the young player cracked a smile as his disc sneaked into several baskets to keep his great round alive until a bad hole 16 stopped his momentum. He quickly regained his composure to take a share of the lead.
Nate Sexton performed today the way we as fans have always seen him play, smart! Shooting -11 round. His game was reliable and he took advantage when he could, draining multiple putts from Circle 2 to put himself in position to have the hot round of the day. He grinds out the low numbers like the working-class player that clocks into work and work is what he does.
Down the stretch, our Memorial Championship’s top three co-leaders have the skills and perseverance that will likely ensure great disc golf for the fans, and with many great players lurking just below, round two live coverage will not disappoint.
Pierce leads FPO by 5, is 2017 her year?
There were some familiar names on top of the leader board for the FPO division to start the Memorial Championship presented by Discraft. Paige Pierce continued her hot streak, shooting 3-under par, 53, to get out to the early five stroke lead over Sarah Hokom (+2). Catrina Allen finds herself in the third spot after shooting 3-over par, 59, and Zoe Andyke and Vanessa Van Dyken rounded out the top four shooting 4-over par, 60.
Pierce continued her consistent play from the Gentleman’s Club Challenge, carding a multitude of pars and four birdies. Unlike some of her other competitors, she avoided the big numbers and her only blemish on the day came on the 294 foot hole four on which she carded a bogey four. Pierce was deadly inside the circle, putting at a 95% clip and was consistently finding herself near the basket. The 2015 Memorial champion hit 44% of fairways and when she wasn’t hitting the fairways, she managed to keep the big numbers to a minimum and scored a 90% scramble percentage. Paige will look to continue her consistent play and build on her already large lead at Fiesta Lakes Golf Course on Thursday.
2016 Disc Golf Pro Tour points champion, Sarah Hokom, finds herself in a familiar position going into Thursday, on another top card. Hokom’s day started out with a double bogey five, but the sidearm specialist used a strong mental game and carded back-to-back birdies on hole seven and eight to put herself at one-over par on the front nine. Hokom shot one-over par on the back nine as well to finish her day with two over par, 58, and in second place. Hokom was accurate off the tee, hitting 50% of the fairways. If she can improve on her 74% circle one putting percentage, she looks to challenge Pierce and the other top competitors for the rest of the event.
Paige Pierce's round 1 stats at Fountain Hills. More stats & scores available at UDiscLive.com.
The 2016 DGPT Champion, Catrina Allen, got off to hot start by birding the 390 foot hole one before giving that stroke right back, carding a bogey on hole two. Allen bounced back quickly birding hole three before finishing out her front nine with five pars and a birdie on the short hole seven to put herself at two under par going into the back nine. The back nine is where Allen ran into trouble, with a double bogey five on hole 10 before true disaster struck on hole 13. Catrina carded an eight on the 295 foot par three to fall off pace. Allen recovered nicely, however, and scored two birdies to get herself back into position to challenge Hokom and Pierce on Thursday.
Allen was not the only top professional to card an eight on the day. Reigning world champion, Valarie Jenkins, took a quadruple bogey eight on hole two, going out of bounds twice. Jenkins, in her Discraft debut, settled down to recover nicely with consistent play to get herself back on the chase card for Thursday’s round, finishing in a tie for sixth place at five over par.
FPO coverage by Baker Helton.
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